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Kenley Jansen was born in Willemstad, Curaçao,[1] the youngest of three sons of Isidor and Bernadette Jensen.[2] His father worked in construction until suffering a stroke when Kenley was 12; his mother is a travel agent.[2]

Jansen was signed as an undrafted free agent catcher by the Dodgers in 2005 and was assigned to the Rookie Class Gulf Coast Dodgers, where he played in 2005 and 2006. He split 2007 between the Ogden Raptors and the Class-A Great Lakes Loons. In 2008 with the Loons, he hit .227 and 9 home runs in 79 games.

On July 23, 2010, Jansen was promoted to the Dodgers.[4] He made his Major League debut in relief on July 24 against the New York Mets, pitching a scoreless inning, retiring all three batters he faced, striking out two. The very next day on July 25, he recorded his first Major League save, when he pitched a 1-2-3 inning against the New York Mets.

On August 26, 2010, Jansen walked and scored a run in his first Major League plate appearance at Miller Park in Milwaukee against Yovani Gallardo. He collected his first Major League hit on August 31, 2010 at Dodger Stadium. The hit was a single up the middle against Kyle Kendrick of the Philadelphia Phillies. He recorded his first Major League win against the Houston Astros on September 11, 2010 in Minute Maid Park.

He appeared in 25 games with the Dodgers in 2010, working 27 innings with a 1–0 record and a 0.67 ERA. He also saved four games in 2010.

In 2011 Jansen became a key member of the Dodgers bullpen. He was 2–1 with a 2.85 ERA in 532⁄3 innings and saved 5 games. He also struck out 96 batters, setting a new Major League season record with 161⁄3 strikeouts per nine innings.[5]

In May 2012, Jansen became the Dodgers closer after Javy Guerra struggled in the role.[6] At the end of the season, after missing some time due to heart problems (see below), Jansen was replaced as closer by Brandon League.[7]

He appeared in 65 games with a 5–3 record, 2.35 ERA, 99 strikeouts and 25 saves.

Jansen began 2013 as the setup man in the bullpen but resumed the role as closer when League struggled. He was in 75 games with a 4-3 record, 1.88 ERA and 28 saves.

On February 11, 2014 he avoided his first arbitration hearing by signing a $4.3 million contract with the Dodgers.[8] Fully established as the Dodgers closer in 2014, Jansen worked in 68 games with a 2.76 ERA, 101 strikeouts and 44 saves. He became just the fourth Dodger pitcher in history with 40+ saves in a season, joining Éric Gagné (who did it three times), Todd Worrell and Jeff Shaw.[9]

On January 16, 2015, he again avoided arbitration by signing a one-year $7.425 million contract with the Dodgers.[10] However, on February 17, he underwent surgery to remove a growth from a bone in his left foot. The recovery time will keep him out of action until May.[11]

Jansen relies almost exclusively on a cut fastball in the 92–97 mph range, but it occasionally tops out at 100 mph, making his much faster than Mariano Rivera.[12] In 2012, he used this pitch about 93% of the time. His other main pitch is a slider in the low 80s. He experimented with a changeup in the 2009–2011 seasons and debuted a four-seam fastball at the end of the 2012 season.[13]

Jansen has recorded extremely high strikeout rates, garnering 14.6 strikeouts per 9 innings through the 2012 season. This is the second-highest total in history among pitchers who have thrown at least 140 innings (behind only Craig Kimbrel).[14]

Jansen was diagnosed in 2011 with an irregular heartbeat (atrial fibrillation) and he missed some time that season while he was placed on blood thinners to correct the problem. However, the problem resurfaced late in the 2012 season and he again missed considerable time while being treated.[15][16] On October 24, 2012, Jansen underwent a three-hour procedure in which a surgeon identified abnormal tissue in his left atrium that was generating abnormal electrical signals and cauterized it.[17]

Jansen lives with his parents in Curaçao during the offseason, and they live with him in Los Angeles when they visit him during the season.[2] Jansen has a daughter who was born on March 16 2013, Natalia Hannah Jansen.[18]